1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to inflators for inflating articles such as life rafts, life vests, and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to inflators having indicators that indicate the operating condition of the inflator.
2. Description of the Background Art
Presently, there exist many types of inflators designed to inflate inflatable articles such as personal floatation devices (life vests, rings and horseshoes), life rafts, buoys and emergency signaling equipment. Inflators typically comprise a body for receiving the neck of a cylinder of compressed gas such as carbon dioxide. A reciprocating pierce pin is disposed within the body of the inflator for piercing the frangible seal of the gas cylinder whereupon the compressed gas therein flows into an exhaust manifold of the inflator and then into the article to be inflated. Typically, a manually movable firing lever is operatively connected to the pierce pin such that the pierce pin pierces the frangible seal of the gas cylinder upon jerking of a ball lanyard. U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,288, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, illustrates one particular embodiment of a manual inflator.
There also exist many types of automatic inflators designed to automatically inflate the inflatable article upon submersion in water. In this way, during an emergency situation such as a downed aviator, injured person, or man overboard, the inflatable article automatically inflates thereby alleviating the need for the person to manually activate the inflator. Representative automatic actuators for inflators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,059,814; 3,091,782; 3,426,942; 3,579,964; 3,702,014; 3,757,371; 3,910,457; 3,997,079; 4,233,805; 4,267,944; 4,260,075; 4,382,231; 4,436,159; 4,513,248; 4,627,823; and 5,076,468, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The above-referenced manual and automatic inflators have been successfully commercialized in many industries. In the marine industry, for example, automatic inflators are commonly incorporated into personal floatation devices, life rafts, buoys, emergency signaling equipment, and the like. Because of the nature of such devices, the reliability of the automatic inflator to work properly during exigent circumstances is paramount. Unfortunately, devices intended to be used during emergency situations are often stored away, such as in a locker, hold, or well of a boat, and ignored for inordinate periods of time. Further, when eventually removed from storage for maintenance, such emergency devices are commonly inspected and serviced only by yachtsmen and boaters who lack any specialized training or expertise in servicing inflators. Consequently, inflators may be improperly serviced by inadvertently installing a spent gas cylinder or in the case of an automatic inflator, by inadvertently installing a spent bobbin. Obviously, an inflator that has been improperly serviced, will fail to properly operate during an emergency situation.
Various safety indicators have been developed for indicating the operating condition of inflators and gas cylinders used in connection therewith. For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,358, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, there exists an indicator system that interconnects between the gas cylinder and the inflator. The one-time, disposable indicator system is responsive to the high pressure release of gas from the gas cylinder during a discharge and changes from a color “green” signifying the gas cylinder being charged to a color “red” signifying that the gas cylinder has been discharged. As taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,986, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, status indicators have also been incorporated within automatic actuators for indicating when the automatic actuator is in its “cocked” position armed and ready for firing and when the automatic actuator has been fired. The status indicator incorporated into the automatic inflator as taught by this patent, indicates the existence of or the ready-condition or status of the bobbin within the automatic inflator. However, it is incapable of indicating the charged condition of the gas cylinder.
It should be appreciated that the gas cylinder indicator of U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,358 and the automatic actuator status indicator of U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,986 may be used together with the former indicating the spent condition of the gas cylinder and the latter indicating the spent condition of the bobbin of the automatic actuator. However, it should also be appreciated that the gas cylinder indicator may be indicating “green” representing a fully charged gas cylinder whereas the automatic inflator indicator may be indicating “red” representative of a spent bobbin. Conversely, the gas cylinder indicator may be indicating “red” and the automatic inflator indicator may be indicating “green”. Of course, the automatic inflator indicator could be displaying “green” even when the gas cylinder is missing entirely. In such scenarios, it is possible for the yachtsman or boater to visualize only the “green” indication and carelessly fail to recognize the “red” indication. In such an event, the yachtsman or boater would mistakenly believe that the automatic inflator is in full operating condition.
In recognition of the possible confusion of separate status indicators, the United States Coast Guard has mandated that all 1F automatic inflators include a “single-point” status indicator that indicates the overall operating condition of the automatic inflator inclusive of the gas cylinder. U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,087, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, complies with the Coast Guard requirement by providing an automatic inflator having an indication of full ready-condition via a single-point window. However, there presently exists a need for single-point indication of full ready-condition in connection with a manual inflator.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art programs and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the manual inflator art.
Another object of this invention is to provide an inflator for inflating an inflatable article including a gas cylinder indicator for indicating the proper installation of a gas cylinder to the automatic inflator.
Another object of this invention is to provide an automatic inflator for inflating an inflatable article including a gas cylinder indicator that indicates the charged condition of the gas cylinder connected to the automatic inflator.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to me merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many of the beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.